A person who abuses alcohol or drugs, every day more and more plunges into a state of dependence on psychoactive substances. Everything becomes indifferent to him, except for the object of his addiction. And then life turns into self-destruction. In addition, the patient becomes a tormentor of all those close and loving to him. How to give him a helping hand and help him find the way to a happy life without alcohol or drugs? What role can family and friends, doctors and rehabilitation specialists play in this?
Managers tell Goodshapetips readers about how the process of getting rid of addiction goes. European Medical Center addiction treatment clinics: Vladimir Georgievich Mazulevsky, psychiatrist-narcologist (Center for Acute Conditions), as well as Yakov Immanuelevich Marshak, certified specialist in the field of getting rid of pathological addictions, biophysicist (Rehabilitation Center).
Yakov Marshak: For an addicted person, a drug or alcohol is his love, and the whole world is just a means to get it. Including close people – just tools to get what you want. They are indifferent to him, and he manipulates them, since they become the main resource for obtaining drugs. Infinitely in love with a drug, an addicted person will defend his addiction with all his might.
A painful life together with an alcoholic or drug addict gradually changes the character and behavior of his family members. Psychologists have found that single alcoholics who embark on the path of sobriety are much less likely to break down than those who have a family. They began to investigate this phenomenon and discovered that the relatives and loved ones of an addicted person develop a psychopathology, which the researchers began to call “codependency.”
Wrongly shown care relatives involuntarily provoke a person to return to drug use. Therefore, it is very important for the patient’s family to seek qualified help from specialists who will tell and teach how to behave with him and how to motivate a loved one to return to a sober lifestyle.
Is it really possible to motivate an addicted person for treatment?
Yakov Marshak: Not possible, but necessary. It is rare when a drug addict or alcoholic says to himself: “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore, I need to be treated!”. Even more rarely, he may decide to do so. In the absence of alcohol or drugs, he begins to experience torment, and he is irresistibly drawn to use. At first it is just a temptation, but then the desire develops into an obsession.
About the same thing a person experiences when he holds his breath for a long time: after a while it becomes impossible not to breathe. But doctors need a person to come to the clinic consciously, only then the program will pick him up and provide a good, joyful state and the opportunity to learn to live on with pleasure. Therefore, the dependent person must be convinced of the need to undergo treatment and rehabilitation.
This is done by interventionists, the so-called “interventionists”. This profession was born in the USA and is not yet so widespread in Russia. In our clinic, we offer an intervention service. The interventionist helps the patient’s family organize a kind of performance, where all the roles are scheduled and rehearsed in advance.
The main idea of this performance is well expressed in the lines of Marina Tsvetaeva’s poem: “That’s what you, dear, did to me! My dear, what have I done to you?” Intervention is always played out unexpectedly for the patient and must break through all his barriers. The interventionist sums up such a meeting, revealing to the patient the nature of his illness, talking about the treatment and the rehabilitation process.
After such a prearranged action, the patient must be immediately sent to the clinic, since the time when the addict is in a state of determination to go to treatment is very short.
Do I need a preliminary diagnosis before starting treatment?
Vladimir Mazulevsky: You must first consult with your doctor on the tactics of managing the patient. Depending on the timing of the disease and the severity of the course of the disease, the specialist will give certain recommendations. Upon admission to treatment, laboratory tests of a general nature are carried out. This stage is necessary to identify contraindications to treatment, including acute infectious diseases that threaten the life of a patient with a disease (severe fractures, the presence of circulatory disorders, etc.).
How is the treatment going?
Vladimir Mazulevsky: First of all, a detox program is carried out, then medical rehabilitation, which helps to restore the body and cope with the consequences that have arisen as a result of long-term use of psychoactive substances. In addition, the patient is prepared psychologically for a new way of life.
At the EMC Addiction Treatment Clinic, we offer both an outpatient rehabilitation program and case management in a rehabilitation center.
Within the framework of outpatient medical care, there are two programs: psychotherapeutic (help in solving problems related to the restoration of communication with relatives and friends) and a hypnotherapy program (destruction of drug behavior, when during the course the patient begins to lose the skills acquired during the use of psychoactive substances). The latter program works very well for drug addicts and is somewhat more difficult for alcoholics, since the essence of these addictions varies.
Why is a detoxification program needed?
Vladimir Mazulevsky: At this stage, specialists help the patient cope with the consequences of prolonged intoxication of the body. In the case of drinking alcohol, the body is cleansed, ridding it of the decay products of alcohol and restoring the functions of the liver, heart, and brain.
With regard to drug use, in this case, detoxification helps to get rid of those physiological symptoms that arise in the body as a result of drug withdrawal. It can be diarrhea, disorders of the autonomic nervous system, pain syndrome, insomnia, as well as all sorts of psychological and mental disorders. Detoxification helps to get through the most difficult period of addiction treatment with the least losses.
Please tell us about the process of rehabilitation in your center.
Yakov Marshak: To begin with, based on a special genetic analysis and depending on the drug used, we draw up an individual rehabilitation plan for the patient. Hereditary deviations in the biochemical processes of the brain, which provide regulation of mood, lead to the fact that a person is born with a lack of satisfaction.
Constant suffering makes him from early childhood look for methods of compensation. Often this is expressed in deviant behavior of the child, which cannot be corrected by ordinary upbringing. When a teenager later finds psychoactive substances – alcohol or drugs – he begins to use them intensively, which further spoils the mood regulation system.
We use special training loads in conjunction with amino acids – the precursors of neurotransmitters that are involved in mood regulation processes. These amino acids are natural and harmless human nutrients that are absorbed by them when digesting food proteins.
The combination of essential amino acids and the load on special brain structures cause the regulatory systems responsible for mood to become more powerful and effectively provide the processes by which this mood is determined. In other words, the technique that we call “brainbuilding”, in the case of skillful and regular use, makes it possible for a person to become happy without drugs and any other doping.
By the word “happiness” we mean, firstly, the ability to experience a state of peace during rest, secondly, to experience a feeling of energy and delight during vigorous activity, and, thirdly, the ability to naturally control the occurrence of anxiety states. An important role in the rehabilitation process is also played by a special diet.
The ability to apply this diet to the patient and his family is obtained during rehabilitation in our clinic. The psychological component of the rehabilitation process, which teaches the patient the ability to make a sober choice, is based on the application of the 12-step program in the most modern, scientifically substantiated version of it. This psychological program, exclusively used in our clinic, is called “mind reconstruction”.
What is the role of loved ones in the treatment process?
Vladimir Mazulevsky: We can say that the family of the patient and his friends are the guides of doctors. They monitor how all recommendations are implemented, whether the schedule for visiting the necessary procedures and specialists is observed. Relatives of the patient need to be ready to fight and be clearly aware that if they give up, then the dependent person dies.
Yakov Marshak: First of all, relatives of the addict must learn how to properly support their loved one. The training program helps the patient’s family to get rid of the main mistakes: firstly, attempts to control the patient and, secondly, the desire to bear the burden of responsibility for those actions that he does while intoxicated. It is very important to learn not to do this.
It is necessary to support the addict on the path to sobriety in moments of mental weakness, to find ways to inspire. And, secondly, to be a good truthful “mirror” for him, that is, without offending, let him know how he looks and what his actions are. It is easy to harm a sober patient, but to support it correctly is an art. Therefore, the specialists of our clinic necessarily work not only with the patient, but also with his family members, so that relatives can give him the right support and care.
European Medical Center Addiction Treatment Clinic
+7 (495) 933 66 55
www.emc-freedom.ru
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